Physiograms are a type of picture made by photographing a torch or other light in a darkened room.
After seeing one in a photography magazine I decided to try making them. I’ve put a small hook in the ceiling which I can use to hang a small torch from. For most of the shots I placed the camera under the the torch. I then set the torch swinging and took a shot. I started off with the shutter speed set to thirty seconds, but that was too long, so I went down to fifteen seconds. I used a wide angle lens in order to make sure the whole pattern was in the shot.
The easiest form of physiogram is made by letting the torch swing in a circular pattern. As the torch swings it moves closer to the center, so you get a spiral of light.
I then tried hanging the torch so it hung horizontally and twisted the string before releasing the torch, which resulted in this effect.
I cheated when creating this picture. Rather than letting the light swing freely, I moved in a figure of eight pattern.
I’ve tried having the camera move at the same time as the torch, but so far it’s just created a mess of lines.
I’m still experimenting with the technique, trying to work out how to get different patterns. I’m still a long way off getting images like these ones on flickr
You can see more images in my gallery.
Posted by msparshatt 
